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‘Simple churches’ put mission on fast track Susan Hogan, Aug 3, 2010
UMNS PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MISSOURI CONFERENCE
Redemption United Methodist Church, a new congregation in Kansas City, Mo., worships in the Keystone Coffeehouse at Broadway UMC.
By Susan Hogan United Methodist News Service
United Methodists in the Missouri Conference are planning to start several small churches without the typical three-year, $300,000 commitment it usually allocates for such efforts.
What they need, however, are a bunch of missionaries like Mike Price.
A pastor at Campbell United Methodist Church in Springfield, Mo., asked during a Wednesday night service for volunteers for a new kind of outreach in southwest Missouri—one that could begin in an apartment or a restaurant meeting room.
“I said yes,” said Mr. Price of Springfield, Mo. “I’ve been searching hard spiritually to serve the Lord in ways that go deeper than being an usher.”
A few days later he met with the Rev. Marsha Vincent, pastor of Sleeper UMC in Lebanon, Mo. She had been tapped by the Ozarks North District to start the outreach—a network of faith hubs known as “simple churches.”
Ms. Vincent, a part-time licensed local pastor, is known for her rousing sermons in Sleeper, an unincorporated community named after the railroad train cars once sidetracked there.
No one knows what shape the simple churches will take. But they will be born in prayer. “Right now, we’re praying up a storm for the Holy Spirit to guide us,” Ms. Vincent said.
Instead of waiting for people to come to the church on Sundays, simple church involves training lay leaders or “missionaries” to cultivate faith groups to meet in homes, community centers or even back rooms in restaurants.
The simple churches will come together at their respective locations for prayer, Bible study, conversation and worship. On occasion, all the groups in the network will meet as one community for worship with sacraments led by Ms. Vincent.
“This is not some weird, overnight rah-rah Jesus thing,” Ms. Vincent said. “We’re asking people to be missionaries in their own communities. This is something we hope will change the face of the Ozark North community.”
The idea of simple churches, or house churches, isn’t new. The Barna Group, a California-based evangelical Christian research organization, estimates that 6 million to 12 million Americans are active in house churches.
Most of the churches began with a simple philosophy: To reach people for Jesus, the church needs to be active in the world wherever people are—a way of ministry that Jesus modeled.
“It’s church that’s not defined by a building, complicated budget, committees or programs,” said the Rev. Bart Hildreth, the Ozarks North District superintendent. “[The congregations] will be active in places that are underserved by traditional models of church but where we don’t have the resources to place a traditional church.”
Simple churches might also spring up in niche demographic markets, such as among apartment dwellers and motorcyclists. Evangelical Christians successfully created a network of simple churches in Texas and Oklahoma geared to cowboys.
“One reason we’re not calling them house churches is that we’re not assuming the need to meet in a house,” Dr. Hildreth said. “They could meet in the back room of Denny’s. There’s no cookie-cutter formula.”
The Rev. Lyle Schaller of Naperville, Ill., a well-known United Methodist author of books about models of church, said simple churches are a sign of the times.
“It’s a way of being church that’s responding to an American culture that has lost faith in its institutions, including the church,” he said. “Many people who grew up after 1970 prefer the non-institutional feel and sense of autonomy a simple church can provide.”
In tough economic times, a major advantage of a simple church is that it requires little overhead or costly infrastructure, bypassing the large financial commitment often set aside to build new churches.
“We’re beginning with four assumptions,” Dr. Hildreth said. “We need to reach people for Jesus. We have no money. Traditional church plant models won’t work here. And we know what will happen if we do nothing.”
He noted that United Methodists are losing ground in his district in terms of percentage of the overall population. At the same time, the number of people declaring no religious preference has increased.
“But this is not a stopgap measure,” Dr. Hildreth said. “It’s another way to reach people for Jesus. This is what Wesley did, too. This is what Methodists have done throughout history. Simple churches reflect Wesleyan values and spirit.”
In a way, Mr. Price said, he represents the demographic attracted to simple churches. Until a few months ago, he was active in a Lutheran congregation. But he’d grown tired of strife there, felt restless and had a deep spiritual hunger.
One day he stepped out of his comfort zone and into a United Methodist church. Now, he’s discerning the possibility of being a lay leader. “I’m stepping out in faith and praying that it’s Spirit-led,” he said.
Ms. Hogan is a freelance writer in Chicago. Fred Koenig, editor of publications in the Missouri Conference, contributed to this story.
UMNS PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MISSOURI CONFERENCE
The simple churches will come together at their respective locations for prayer, Bible study, conversation and worship. On occasion, all the groups in the network will meet as one community for worship with sacraments led by Ms. Vincent.
In tough economic times, a major advantage of a simple church is that it requires little overhead or costly infrastructure, bypassing the large financial commitment often set aside to build new churches.
